1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to user interfaces for video selection and display.
2. Related Art
In systems for presenting information, such as for example audiovisual media, there are now so many possible choices that individuals find it difficult to remember them all. Accordingly, such systems generally involve a UI (user interface) by which users might search for possible choices, with the effect that those users are able to select one or more choices for presentation. However, while they achieve the general goal of allowing users to search and select, known systems are subject to several draw-backs.
First, there are often such a large number of entries or titles that presenting even a small fraction of them for review by users, such as on an OSD (on screen display), or a video screen or similar interface, is unwieldy. Some known systems allow users to scroll forward and backward through a relatively long list of entries, but one result of such scrolling is that the user is continually presented with entries of interest at the very edge of the OSD, with the effect that the user loses much of the context that might be available from being able to review those entries just beyond the edge of the OSD. There are several aspects of the invention in which this problem is ameliorated: (1) relatively large lists, whether long or wide, are presented in such manner as to centralize and emphasize a focused-upon entry, and (2) relatively large entries, whether long or wide, are presented in such manner as to reduce the amount of presented information when not subject to focus, and are presented in such manner as to increase the amount of presented information when subject to focus.
Second, many entries or titles have data fields that might be categorized into multiple groups. For example, many videos might be characterized as both “comedy” and “western,” or as both “action-adventure” and “mystery,” and the like. Some known systems allow users to search or sort entries by such categories, but the user's ability to locate entries with similar categories can be relatively limited, depending on the degree of sorting allowed and the number of sort keys allowed per entry. Moreover, such known systems often involve large numbers of data fields, such as for example a first genre, a second genre, and the like, with the effect that presentation of individual entries can be unwieldy from being wider than the OSD. There are several aspects of the invention in which this problem is ameliorated: (1) multiple such categories are combined into a single searchable and sortable data field, with the effect that the width of each entry is substantially limited to the width of the OSD, (2) multiple copies of entries having multiple such categories are generated in response to searching or sorting requests by the user, with the effect that the user can use natural scrolling techniques to find titles that share similar categories, even if those titles also can be simultaneously classified in quite different categories.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide an improved user interface for video selection and display.